Re: [aroid-l] Epipremnum

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at msn.com> on 2003.11.07 at 00:06:53(10776) Dear Aroidophiles, As some of you may know or recall, the flowering of this plant has been of great interest to me for several years. I have just come across a most intriguing bit of information concerning its blooming that many may not be aware of, and may explain the scarcity of us finding blooms in nature! It is an article in Aroidiana Vol. 8, No. 2 by Alan Herndon ( I wonder if Alan still grows Aroids???) "Naturalized Aroids", it addresses the occurrence of several foreign aroid genera that have 'escaped' cultivation in S. Florida. Amongst others, he mentions what he calls 'Raphidophora aurea (Lind. & Andre) Birdsey, also called 'Hunter`s robe' and 'Golden Pothos', the old name for the plant under discussion. About this plants flowering habits, he says--- "The plant seems to exhibit synchronized mass flowering, a very rare phenomenon in plants overall but common among bamboos. The plants grow for many years without flowering. Then, in response to some unknown factor, all plants from one clone bloom simultaneously, regardless of where they are in the world. A mass flowering of this sort was noted for Raphidophora aurea in 1960." This may explain the reports of some blooming many years ago, but not one in recent years. I witnessed a mass blooming of an introduced large bamboo species in Trinidad, W.I. many years ago when I still was living there. Thousands of bamboo clumps, all that we were aware of throughout the entire Island, all began to bloom. There were Newspaper reports of the same species blooming throughout the entire globe. After blooming on Trinidad, most of the bamboo clumps that had grown for perhaps close to 100 years all then died. This bamboo, I have been told, had been introduced in the hopes of producing raw material to make paper. I wonder if Pete Boyce is aware of this report on the 1960 blooming in S. Florida, and also if any 'old timers' can remember and confirm it??? Good Growing, Julius +More WPB, FLORIDA Is there a proper botanical name for our common Pothos? I've seen Epipremnum pinnatum and Epipremnum falcifolium. Is one more proper than the other? Does anyone collect these plants? There are several interesting species, but I don't see much talk about them.Leslie RuleColumbia, MO USA _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!

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